Writer Rosamunde Pilcher is poaching fresh salmon. "Peppercorns, bay leaves, wine vinegar,'' she ticks off the ingredients over the phone from her home near Dundee, Scotland. "You bring the water to a boil and cook it for exactly three minutes, then let it cool. I serve it with homemade mayonnaise. Lovely.'' But of course. "Lovely'' is a word Pilcher's legions of fans often use to describe her fat family sagas -- The Shell Seekers, September, Coming Home -- replete with detailed descriptions of domestic pleasures.

Name: Fredda Goebel. School: Teaches fourth grade at Wilson Elementary School in Sanford. Education and Experience: Received a bachelor of arts degree in communications from the University of Oklahoma, a master of science in reading and post-graduate hours at the University of Colorado. Taught for six years in Oklahoma and Colorado and has taught in Seminole County for 14 years. Reason for becoming a teacher: I loved school and my teachers. My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Barton, would let me read as much as I wanted to, and my speech and English teachers in high school convinced me I had university potential.

These memorable works of fiction are now available in paperback:MONOLOGUE CABINPoints of Light, by Linda Gray Sexton (Avon, $4.95): Sexton's poignant novel focuses on Allie Yates, her husband, her daughters, her young son. When a tragic accident plunges the family into grief, Allie must find the courage and love to lead them back to the light.DISTURBING SNAPSHOTSThe Year of Silence, by Madison Smartt Bell (Penguin, $6.95): An attractive young free-lance artist named Marian dies of an overdose of pills about halfway through Bell's accomplished novel.

Winter Solstice, by Rosamunde Pilcher (St. Martin's Press, $7.99, paperback): Fans of such previous Pilcher sagas as The Shell Seekers and Coming Home won't be disappointed by this leisurely, satisfying story about five assorted people who unexpectedly find themselves sharing a house and Christmas holidays. First, Elfrida, a retired actress, agrees to accompany her recently bereaved friend Oscar to his family's old home in northern Scotland. They, then, are joined by Elfrida's younger cousin Carrie, who's nursing a broken heart, and Carrie's 14-year-old niece Lucy.

AFLOAT IN COCAINE Crackdown, by Bernard Cornwell (Harper, $5.95): Cornwell's action-packed thriller is set in and around the Bahamas, where crooked cops and politicians are salting away the profits of the cocaine trade. Nicholas Breakspear, the estranged son of England's most famous actor, is working as a captain for a private yacht-chartering service when an ambitious U.S. senator hires him to provide an at-sea rehab center for his cocaine-addicted twins. Of course, the twins have other ideas, and soon Nicholas and his crew are fighting for their lives.

Writer Rosamunde Pilcher is poaching fresh salmon. "Peppercorns, bay leaves, wine vinegar,'' she ticks off the ingredients over the phone from her home near Dundee, Scotland. "You bring the water to a boil and cook it for exactly three minutes, then let it cool. I serve it with homemade mayonnaise. Lovely.'' But of course. "Lovely'' is a word Pilcher's legions of fans often use to describe her fat family sagas -- The Shell Seekers, September, Coming Home -- replete with detailed descriptions of domestic pleasures.

A first novel, Necessary Madness, is the publishing sensation du jour.Here's why:Movie rights have been sold to Sony Entertainment.The novel is a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate.Foreign rights have been snapped up by 13 countries.The author received $150,000 for the manuscript and a second, as-yet-unwritten novel.It has a big first printing of 150,000 copies.Oh, yeah. Jenn Crowell wrote Necessary Madness when she was 17 years old.Crowell, now all of 18, is a sophomore at Goucher College in Baltimore.